More Whoop A… Stuff

On the way. BTDM

SHAH ALAM: The Army is looking to add more stuff to its armoury from mortar bombs, demolition charges and safety fuzes. As usual the request for bids were published in the eperolehan website and only minimal specifications were made public.

The mortar bomb tender which opened on Nov. 13 and closes on Dec. 8, the Army is looking for some 2000 81mm HE mortar bombs, weighing 9 pounds.

A mortar unit from the 10th Para Brigade preparing to fire their weapons during training in October, 2019. BTDM

The bomb is intended for use in training and operations carried out by the Malaysian Armed Forces. The bomb shall be able to be fired from the following mortar tubes: Mortar 81 mm EXPAL M86L. Mortar 81 mm VECTOR M8. Any Mortar 81 mm used in services.

The M8 is actually the Denel Vektor 81mm mortar and not as published. The last line is important though as the bombs should also worked in any 81mm mortar in service. As the Army was looking for new mortars together with its vehicle, new bombs purchased must work on them as well.

On the way, at night. BTDM

Unfortunately, they havent announced the winner for the new mortars though from the price list schedule, 10 companies had qualified for the tender with the lowest bid at RM88 million and the highest at RM98.5 million. There is also no announcement for the RFB for the 120mm mortar bombs in September
Firing 81mm mortar at night. BTDM

Demolition Charge
Another RTB published today and closes on Dec. 8 is the supply of 200 units of charge demolition (hayrick).
A charge demolition, Hayrick, from a Czech company. Internet

There is a requirement for the Malaysian Army in the service in the engineering units to be equipped with Charge Demolition Hayrick during demolition operation.

Engineers from 10th Para Brigade preparing to fire a charge demolition remotely during training in 2019. BTDM

Safety Fuze
The last RTB is for the supply of 30,000 safety fuze which also closes on Dec. 8.
Engineers from 10th Para Brigade preparing to fire a plastic explosives in a 2019 exercise. BTDM

There is a requirement for the Malaysian Army to beequipped with Safety Fuze to initiate an explosion. Safety Fuze provides the time delay required for the blaster to reach the coverof safety before the actual explosion takes place.

— Malaysian Defence

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13 Comments

  1. So lets just start a “national interest” company that would require millions of RM to develop these munitions for a production period of merely 6 months before mothballing the company after final deliveries done and we hoped they would still be alive 3-4 years down the line so they could be restarted to make new munitions. Rinse and repeat. Who cares since we got overflow of money to throw into defence anyways right?

    Reply
    There is no need to start a new company, SMEO is already there. All of the items mentioned here and previous posts were previously bought from them directly. When it comes to the tenders a company which sourced the items from overseas will always be able to offer a better price as there is no national interest cost to it.

  2. @ marhalim

    “ Di pantai Barat Sabah pula, di bawah formasi 5 Briged adalah penubuhan Batalion Ke-27 Rejimen Askar Melayu Diraja (27 RAMD) dan Batalion ke-11 Rejimen Renjer Diraja (11RRD) ”

    Any new information on the new battalions for sabah? New camps for this 2 new battalions? So in all we are going to have 38 infantry battalions, much more than we have during communist insurgency era. Now we also have 11 border security battalions (with the 11th Rejimen Sempadan conveniently located in Bera, Pahang very far away from any borders).

  3. … – “ (with the 11th Rejimen Sempadan conveniently located in Bera, Pahang very far away from any borders)

    The HQ plus the administrative and support elements will be based at Bera which will also house units when not in the field.

    When deployed in the field sub units; whilst being under the administrative control of parent HQ at Bera; will be under the operational control of brigades which are responsible for the area. As such having 11th Regiment’s HQ at Bera won’t necessarily be an issue.

  4. … – “ So in all we are going to have 38 infantry battalions”

    Indeed. On paper a lot of manpower. In reality the question is how well we’re able to maintain manpower levels. As it is the a gulf between actual authorised strength and actual strength – a lot of units are below strength.

    Another pertinent question is what are actual rifle strengths and what is the ratio between actual combat and non combat elements?

    Reply
    Yes, based on the number of battalions the Army can and will argue they need more money to pay for personnel and stuff. On the other hand both the navy and airforce cannot argue they need more money as their ranks and stuff remains the same or even decreasing as they had to stop using them due to various issues. Even a 30 year old APC like the Condors could still be justified for extra money as it could still be in the books as it could still go pottering around the camp, basically still operational. The same cannot be said for a 30 year old fighter plane or navy ship

  5. @ azlan

    “As such having 11th Regiment’s HQ at Bera won’t necessarily be an issue ”

    No issue operationally, but great for the election bank as the incumbent Bera MP happens to be the menhan.
    ______________________________

    ” Another pertinent question is what are actual rifle strengths and what is the ratio between actual combat and non combat elements? ”

    From OSINT sources such as BTDM and battalion FB pages, most of our infantry battalions is now composed of 3 operational rifle companies, 1 support company (with HMG, sniper and mortar platoons) and 1 HQ company.

  6. .. – “ most of our infantry battalions is now composed of 3 operational rifle companies, 1 support company (with HMG, sniper and mortar platoons) and 1 HQ company”

    Yes. That is the authorised TOE. At one point long companies had 4 platoons. Each company will also have a HQ element and there will be various support arm elements organic to the brigade. Like other peacetime volunteer armies; ensuring authorised strengths are met and having a favourable/desirable ratio between combat and non combat elements is a challenge

  7. “There is no need to start a new company”
    Oh that’s just to spread the wealth, all for the sake of “national interest” you know. Who cares if they all close down eventually, they did make some money during that short time, and if not let\’s give them extra bantuan. *sarcasm*

    “overseas will always be able to offer a better price as there is no national interest cost to it.” And that’s the thing! Some people think our defence budget can suffer the inefficiencies of “national interest”, I don’t. What measly money we allocate should be maximised to get full value of what we purchase.

  8. For a long time the authorised TOE was 4 companies and a HQ. Each company consisted of 3 platoons, support section (GPMGs and Gustavs) and a HQ. Under the HQ was the signal platoon, mortar platoon, transport platoon, MP platoon, quarter master and pipe and drums.

    With some minor changes this still remains the same. Today the GPMGs and Gustavs are in the Support Company and sections in certain units were downsized in order to fit in a IFV. Certain units also have 60mms at section level.
    Not every unit has RPGs.

    The actual TOE however can vary from unit to unit as do actual numbers. A lot of units are not authorised strength. In common with other armies a significant percentage of the men are not in the rifle companies; non combat elements.

  9. @ azlan

    If not mistaken previously BIS is composed of 4 rifle companies, a suppprt company and a HQ company. Now reduced to only 3 rifle companies.

    Mechanised infantry BIM section has more soldiers than BIM section. A total of 9 – 6 dismounts, 1 commander, 1 IFV gunner and 1 IFV driver. Each mecanised infantry battalion also has an embedded KJLJD company for the maintenance of the IFVs. So that is a total of 6 companies.

  10. … – “Mechanised infantry BIM section has more soldiers than BIM section”

    The authorised number was driven by the need to fit a whole section in a Adnan/MIFV. It’s a very tight fit inside both; even before taking into account the personal gear and weapons
    which take up space.If I’m not mistaken the carrying capacity for the troop compartment is 8 – tfacing each other in the Adnan and back to back in the MIFV.
    With the Sibmas less could be carried as the seating compartment (like the BMP – I had a look inside an ex Iraqi one; very tight fit) is a narrow space.

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